President Barack Obama’s decision this election cycle to announce that he had changed his view
and now endorses same-sex marriage puts him in line with a plurality of adults in the United
States, according to a recent survey.

On the other hand, Obama’s Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, has said he would support a
constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Across the United States, 48 percent of adults favor allowing gay couples to marry, a jump from
31 percent in 2004, according to a poll conducted this year by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on
Religion & Public Life. Along party lines, 65 percent of Democrats, 51 percent of independents
and 24 percent of Republicans support same-sex marriage.

Many people who oppose the practice, as well as many who support it, turn to their religious
beliefs to form their opinions. Here, Faith & Values looks at the positions on homosexuality
and same-sex marriage held by leaders of a variety of religious traditions.

(All adherence numbers are for the Columbus metropolitan area in 2010 as counted by the
Association of Religious Data Archives.)

Roman Catholic Church

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 216,175 adherents

• God created marriage between one man and one woman, and that provides for the good of the
couple and the procreation and education of children, according to the U.S. Catholic Conference of
Bishops website. It considers sex between members of the same gender “harmful and always
wrong."

“The love between a husband and a wife involves a free, total and faithful mutual gift of self
that not only expresses love but also opens the spouses to receive the gift of a child,” the site
says. “No other human interaction on Earth is like this.”

The
Catechism of the Catholic Church urges kindness toward people with homosexual tendencies. “
This inclination ... constitutes for most of them a trial,” the text says. “They must be accepted
with respect, compassion and sensitivity.”

United Methodist Church

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 80,844 adherents

• The church maintains that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching and that “
sexual relations are affirmed only with the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage,”
according to
The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church.

In May, the church’s 2012 General Conference maintained the position and voted against changing
the book’s wording to state that Christians have differing views on homosexuality. The move was met
with protests by church members who support same-sex marriage.

The
Book of Discipline compels families and congregations to refrain from rejecting or
condemning gay members.

“We will seek to live together in Christian community, welcoming, forgiving and loving one
another, as Christ has loved and accepted us. ... We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and
with all persons,” it says.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

• The church voted in 2009 to find ways to allow congregations to “recognize, support and hold
publicly accountable” same-sex couples who commit to lifelong, monogamous relationships, according
to information on the church website. However, congregations are not required to acknowledge such
relationships.

No action was taken regarding a churchwide rite of blessing.

In a social statement on sexuality, the church says “consensus does not exist concerning how to
regard same-gender committed relationships, even after many years of thoughtful, respectful and
faithful study and conversation. We do not have agreement on whether this church should honor these
relationships and uplift, shelter and protect them or on precisely how it is appropriate to do
so."

Presbyterian Church (USA)

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 20,409 adherents

• By a narrow margin, the General Assembly of the church voted this summer against changing the
denomination’s definition of marriage to being “between two people.” It also rejected proposals
that would have allowed religious leaders to perform same-sex marriages in states where it is
legal.

It also voted against reaffirming the definition as being between a man and a woman and called
for a two-year study on Christian marriage.

Church of the Nazarene

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 16,266 adherents

• The Board of General Superintendents on the church website says it believes “every man or
woman should be treated with dignity, grace and holy love, whatever their sexual orientation.”

“However, we continue to firmly hold the position that the homosexual lifestyle is sinful and is
contrary to the Scriptures. … We stand firmly on the belief that the biblical concept of marriage,
always between one man and one woman in a committed, lifelong relationship, is the only
relationship within which the gift of sexual intimacy is properly expressed.”

American Baptist Churches in the USA

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 14,698 adherents

• In an “identity statement” on its website, the church says Scripture provides that “God’s
design for sexual intimacy places it within the context of marriage between one man and one
woman."

“The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with biblical teaching,” the document says.

United Church of Christ

• Practiced by Obama

• Individual congregations decide on same-sex marriage

• 13,813 adherents

• The church passed a resolution in 2005 affirming marriage rights for all couples, stating “the
government should not interfere with couples regardless of gender who choose to marry and share
fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of legally recognized
marriage."

It called on UCC congregations to participate in “prayerful biblical, theological and historical
study” and consider adopting policies that allow same-sex couples to marry. However, individual
congregations are free to accept or reject same-sex marriages.

UCC’s history of supporting gay rights dates to 1969, when its Council for Christian Social
Action called for the repeal of laws criminalizing homosexuality and an end to prohibiting gay
people from certain employment and from military service.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)

• Practiced by Romney

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 12,682 adherents

• Homosexuality is considered sinful, and the purpose of marriage is to rear families. The
church’s Law of Chastity allows sex only between a married man and woman, and heterosexual marriage
is considered part of what’s needed to inherit the kingdom of God.

The church says people with same-sex attraction should be loved as children of God. If they
violate the law of chastity, they are subject to church discipline, just like others.

Such people may receive forgiveness through repentance and by confessing to a church leader. The
leader can convene a disciplinary council that could “excommunicate, disfellowship, place on
probation or exonerate the person,” according to the
Encyclopedia of Mormonism.

Islam

• Opposes same-sex marriage

• 15,578 adherents (estimated)

• Most Muslim leaders believe that homosexuality is sinful and is specifically condemned in the
Quran and in sayings attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Many Islamic countries outlaw homosexuality and prescribe beatings or executions by stoning or
other means as punishment. In North America, groups have formed to support the acceptance of gays
in the Muslim community.

Judaism

• Same-sex marriage is supported by most denominations but opposed by Orthodox Union • The
Association of Religious Data Archives puts adherents in the Columbus area at 10,001; the Jewish
Federation of Columbus notes that other counts put the Jewish population at about 22,000.

•
Reconstructionist (135 adherents) and
Reform (3,934 adherents): Both movements have a long history of advocating for gay
rights. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association passed a resolution in 2004 supporting civil
marriages for same-sex couples; the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform) passed a similar
resolution in 1996.

•
Conservative (3,432 adherents): The Rabbinical Assembly approved procedures this
year for the marriage and divorce of same-sex couples. The group had determined in 2006 that “
discriminatory attitudes toward gay men and lesbians do indeed undermine their dignity,” concluding
that “their human dignity requires suspension of the rabbinic-level prohibitions so that they may
experience intimacy and create families recognized by the Jewish community.”

•
Orthodox (2,500 adherents): Homosexual behavior is forbidden by Jewish law, and
Jews are encouraged to have empathy and understanding toward those with such urges, according to a
2006 paper by the then-executive vice president of the Orthodox Union. The central role of
heterosexual families is to “conceive and raise children, thereby perpetuating the human race and
for Jews, ensuring the continuity of the Jewish people,” the document says.